Whether it’s the high rate of current job losses or the desire to sever ties with an unfortunate boss, consumers are looking for work-at-home solutions. Ready for some shocking stats?

The phrase ‘work at home’ is generating, on average 24 million searches per month, while the phrase ‘work from home’ is generating 13.7 million. Just as a point of reference, searches for ‘home improvement’ are around 10 million, and ‘furniture’ around 8 million. 

There’s no doubt more consumers want to, or may need to work from home. The challenge for furniture manufacturers, retailers and home builders is to understand what, exactly, that means. Do consumers want to designate a separate room to work from, or will they section off a portion of another room? work in the kitchen? in the bedroom? 

While sales of conventional filing cabinets are down, sales of portable laptops are way up. For many, big home office set-ups are less appealing than compact work areas, better access to electrical outlets for re-charging portable electronics, and a more efficient set-up of computer components.

What’s also needed is more efficient furniture that allows consumers to work anywhere in their home… whether on their sofa, in a chair, from their bed or from a small writing desk in the bedroom.

It’s not easy to know where the ‘work at home’ trend is going, but it’s hard to deny it’s a big area of interest to consumers!

After advising consumers they might not be able to watch TV after February 17th unless they buy a transition box or a new TV… many opted for the new TV. With aggressive pricing, sales of TVs and TV-watching furniture has been a bright spot in a tough economy. So what can we expect on February 18th?

When it comes to their TVs, here are a few of the latest stats on what consumers are planning for their home in 2009 and beyond…

 * 56% of young adults say they’re likely to watch a movie in the kitchen. (More comfortable chairs, anyone?)

* 44% of young adults want to watch TV cooking shows on demand via a kitchen computer

* 89% of consumers say a more energy-efficient TV is #1 on their wish-list for their next TV. Energy-efficient TVs are a growing story, as seen at the Consumer Electronics Show this month, and could fuel continuing sales.

* 71% want to download movies directly onto their TV, supporting the trend to go out less, even to the video store.

* 55% of all HDTVs sold in 2009 will be 1080b, fueling the trend to super-thin TVs. smaller entertainment units and TV stands with brackets. Experts believe thinner TVs may entice housholds to upgrade to Bu-ray players and subscribe to HD channels. More TV watching would logically translate to more comfortable TV-watching furniture.

* 32% of consumers are interested in a new 3-D TV.

* 20% of consumers want an outdoor TV.

While going on vacation and dining may be down in 2009, watching TV won’t be. Consumers are still excited about a flat-screen TV and more channels to watch, and as seen in my last post, TV and cable spending will be one of the last places they cut expenses.

So the future still appears promising for TV-watching in every room in the house… from living rooms, family rooms, man caves and kitchens to home offices and kids rooms. 

An online study by Gfk Roper shows where consumers will cut spending in 2009. The study was taken between Sept 11th and Oct 10th, just after the worst economic news hit.

When asked which specific expenses they’d be cutting back on in the next six months, here’s how 2,000 Americans responded:

Dining out at restaurants - 82% 
Entertainment outside the home - 68%
Clothing for themselves - 64%
Pleasure travel and vacation - 63% 
Buying lunch - 56%
Hobbies - 48%
Major home improvements/furnishings - 47%
Subscriptions/memberships - 46%
Food shopping - 38%
Saving and investing - 25%
Cable or satellite TV - 23%
Credit-card payments - 18%

For home furnishings, the news isn’t all bad. Out of 15 mentioned expenses, home furnishings were 7th on the list. Here’s what else we learned:

* with a whopping majority of consumers not planning to dine out as much (#1 on the list), fixing up eating areas at home might be a consideration. 

* with a large number of consumers not planning to entertain outside the home (#2 on the list), entertaining at home might mean a new sofa or a few living room alterations  

* with a whopping majority of consumers not planning to give up on their cable or satellite TV bills, fixing up family and home theater rooms might be in order

Source: Advertising Age, Dec 1, 2008

Seems the stay-at-home trend is being fueled by more than economic worries and tight budgets. Remember the old tupperware parties at home? Well they’re back strong, along with parties to sell everything from chocolate, toys and cars. Party planners say they’re seeing a dramatic increase in nostalgia for the good old days when people spent time with other people in their homes.

According to HouseParty, a company that arranges parties on behalf of brands such as Saturn and Hershey, house party bookings went up from 3,300 in Aug ‘07 to 12,300 in Aug ‘08… and from 5,400 in Sept ‘07 to 7900 in Sept ‘08.   For a recent Fisher-Price Party promotion, more than 22,00 consumers signed up to host one of 1,000 parties to promote new kids toys.

Source: Advertising Age, Nov 3, 2008

If you haven’t noticed, dogs are making news these days.

I was recently reviewing top-selling ‘home’ books of ‘08, and was surprised how many dog titles I had to scroll through before as many titles about room design, organization or even crafts surfaced. Who knew that dog books were outselling home making books?

So it turns out that dogs aren’t just taking over bookstores and holiday blockbuster movies like Marley and Me.  Dogs are becoming big business in yes, vacuum cleaners. Pet hair removal and pet hair vacuum cleaner attachments are increasing in popularity these days and getting price premiums in a tough economy. (According to the American Veterinary Association, 60% of all U.S. households own a dog or cat… I suppose that’s a lot of pet hair to clean up).

So if pets are members of the family, as 49.7% of U.S. pet owners believe they are, where are Marley, Fido and Garfield likely spending their time at home? My guess is smack dab in the middle of the couch when we’re not home (and for some of us, when we are home too).

 If 2009 becomes the year of the dog, as seems plausible… furniture that can stand up to canines (and felines) should be a popular idea. Pet-friendly finishes and fabrics, information on how to get pet hair, pet stains and pet odor out of fabrics, and easier access to Scotchguard-type finishes would be helpful to consumers… because it sounds like the dogs are making themselves at home.     

The 4th shelter magazine in 12 months to come off the newstand, Cottage Living  ceased publication in December.

The popular publication targetted rustic-minded homeowners and focused on smaller homes.  Circulation was 1 million, an average by shelter magazine standards, but had a fast growth curve, being named Magazine Start-up of the Year by AdWeek in 2005.

Cottage Living was published by Time, Inc, and is part of a 600-person workforce reduction. Reasons cited included declining advertising revenues.

Cottage Living joins Oprah’s O at Home (circulation 704,000 / Hearst), which ceased publishing its quarterly magazine Nov 10th,  Home magazine (circulation 829,000 / Hachete Filipachi) which ceased publishing its 8x/year publication Aug 8th, and House and Garden (circulation 976,000 / Conde Nast) which ceased publishing its 12x/year publication Nov 5th, 2007.

Ad revenues for shelter publication were down an average of 5.1%  in 2008. Combined with the housing collapse, all magazines succumbed to a challenging business climate.

On the upside, Ty Pennington at Home (Hachette Filipachi / circulataion 500K) was launched in 2008 after a successful 2007 test, and at last reports, Reader’s Digest Association was preparing to launch Fresh Home in Feb, 2009, a ‘fun, quarterly DIY-themed publication for young couples’.